Change
by Tadpole24
Summary: And there it lays; that little thing that binds them. For he has changed her in so many ways and now, she has changed him. BB, Post Season 5.


**This started off one way and ended in a completely different direction. I love parts of it and am not sure about other parts. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. :)**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I really thought I did own it, but it was a cruel trick played by some shoddy trickster. (PS. If you have the 2007 version of MS Word, look at the synonyms for 'shoddy'...one is 'slapdash', I don't know why but I found that immensely amusing. Lol)**

..:::..

Change

..:::..

Change was always inevitable. It is a controlled force in the greater scheme of everything, it is a force which cannot be fought against, it is binding, it is holding, it is strong...until the next change happens of course.

It is change which helps us evolve, it helps us learn and grow and develop along paths which, predetermined or not, belong to us. Change is always beckoning us forward, moving us into new territory and new terrain.

Right up until the end he maintains that not everything has to change. It's an unconscious mantra that he doesn't know he carries with him, _"Not everything changes."_ And up until that moment of truth, he honestly believed that that could be the case; that not everything had to change. Only up until that moment though.

Then he saw it, as he sat by her on a park bench looking away from her and never at her. He saw the need, the want and the push for change. She's told him time and time again that entropy is a natural process which makes sure that everything changes; only he never wanted that to be the case.

They were happy people, they worked together, they had fun outside of work together. They were never committed to anything other than a friendship and for a long time, that worked for them. They were happy in an unchanging state. Or at least, they thought they were.

They were content with their life, but not happy.

Suppressing the urge to reach out and just kiss the other is not a happy state. Suppressing that urge to the point of denial is not a happy state either.

So he changes his mantra, in that time he sits facing away from her, he changes his mantra and when she asks him to look at her he faces her with a new outlook and tells her that things really do have to change.

And there it lays; that little thing that binds them. For he has changed her in so many ways and now, she has changed him.

..:::..

Change was never meant to be easy. They part with the promise of reuniting again in one year's time. It is a solid promise, resolute, something that will get them through long and lonely nights apart.

He calls her sometimes, but the chats are kept to a five minute limit. Partially because he has fellow soldiers who want to call loved ones and partially because the satellite phone out in the Indonesian jungle used for the anthropologists on the dig is of ancient technology and likes to disconnect after about that amount of time.

But they do talk, and it is easy.

He asks her if she's eating right and she tells him to stay safe.

Twelve months pass by just like that.

..:::..

As much as he wants to go to the Reflecting Pool first thing and just see her, just be with her, he knows that his flight has landed 7 and a half hours before hers, so when he climbs into the first cab he sees he requests that he be taken to his son.

His son has changed a lot and when Booth sees him for the first time in a year he is unsure how to react. He wants to show his son how much man he is but all he can do is cry.

"You better not fall apart like this when you see Bones. She might reject you."

His eleven year old son has gotten quite bold over the year, it seems.

He laughs, hugging his son close to him, "Wanna come meet her with me?"

..:::..

She walks towards 'their spot' holding two slices of cake in her hand, apparently the coffee cart got an 'upgrade' to a cake cart in the year they had been apart.

_Everything changes_.

When she sees blonde curls running towards her she can't help but smile widely knowing her partner is in the crowd somewhere behind the boy. The hug she receives from Parker nearly knocks the wind out of her, but it's nothing compared to the intense reaction her body exhibits when she hears it...

"Bones?"

One word and she is handing the cake to an eager looking Parker, turning around looking in every direction until she spots him directly behind her, a smile on his lips and tears forming in his eyes.

"Booth."

It is barely a whisper and then the air is knocked out of her again, this time by the larger of the Booth boys. She takes a moment to comprehend being in his arms again before throwing her arms even tighter around his body.

"I missed you."

He kisses her cheek, "I missed you, too."

Around them everything is changing, the sun is setting turning day into night, but right in that moment, they are static, they are unchanging.

Everything that lead them to this point was a change, a shift in the greater scheme of things. Every little thing.

All these changes, they have been made and now all they need is implementation.

He goes to kiss her cheek again, but she turns her head, making sure his lips collide with hers.

"I love you," she whispers.

Booth knows at what cost that statement alone comes to her and he loves her more in that moment, "I love you, too."

They smile at each other, and from beside them Parker speaks, "I love you both, but kissing is disgusting, can we go get some pie?"

The partners reluctantly pull away from each other, smiling, "Diner?"

Booth laughs, "Diner."

Some things will never change.

..:::..

**So yeah...I love reviews.**

**Just putting the idea out there. ;)**

**Em**

**x**


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